Inside BlackBerry » BlackBerry Elitehttp://blogs.blackberry.com
The Official BlackBerry BlogTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:21:07 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/b404bd76bdce530326a3db3e9a60a43d?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » BlackBerry Elitehttp://blogs.blackberry.com
What is the BlackBerry Family?http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/09/what-is-the-blackberry-family/
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/09/what-is-the-blackberry-family/#commentsTue, 23 Sep 2014 13:19:15 +0000http://blogs.blackberry.com/?p=21750/ Read More]]>As we prepare to unveil what is probably the worst-kept secret in the mobile industry, I want to thank everyone in #TeamBlackBerry that has stuck with us faithfully through the years. Tomorrow, we hope that you find that your loyalty has been rewarded.

While I was a BlackBerry user for most of the 2000s, and bleed Black today, there are many members of the BlackBerry community with much greater seniority than me. I thought it would be appropriate to let two of them share their thoughts on the eve of tomorrow’s launch.

Karl Nieva and Kim Cooley are both long-time members of the BlackBerry community, sharing their knowledge and tips with new users via forums, blogs and social media for years. When BlackBerry created its BlackBerry Elite program two years ago, both Karl and Kim were invited to join.

As with Ryan Blundell’s touching story about his son Keian’s love of BlackBerry devices, both Karl and Kim are sharing stories about how for them, BlackBerry is so much more than a phone maker – it’s helped to build lasting friendships or bring families closer in profound, not always-expected ways. Because while BlackBerry is about Serious Mobility for Serious Business, we also recognize that work is not 24/7. Helping to connect people and create friendships and families is the privilege of being a communications provider, and a privilege that we don’t take lightly.

***

Karl Nieva’s Story

My name is Karl, and I’m the proud father of two lovely boys. They’re known in the social media realm as K1 and K2. K1 is an independent, 11-year-old who loves being outdoors: running long distances, biking, and snowboarding. K2 is a cute and loving 8-year-old who loves and mimics everything his big brother does.

BlackBerry has been part of our lives for ten years. A decade ago, my BlackBerry 7230 was primarily used for business. However in more recent years, we found the kids adopting them for personal use. K1 uses the Torch for taking pictures and surfing the web, while K2 uses the 9700 to listen to music and take photos.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to beta test BlackBerry OS 10.3 on my BlackBerry Z30. One of the features we use a lot is the BlackBerry Assistant. While I use it for typical business purposes such as checking my appointments on the calendar, we’ve recently adopted a different use for it. You see, K2 has Down Syndrome and his reading and speech skills are not up to par with other 8-year-olds. We’ve been using BlackBerry Assistant to help him read a few sentences into the Assistant. We’re finding this method not only improves his reading but really helps him enunciate his words better.

Every morning, K2 brings down the sheet of paper where I’ve written: “What is the weather for Waterloo, Ontario?” He grabs my Z30, proceeds to tap the BlackBerry search icon, taps the microphone icon, and reads the sentence. The joy in his face when BlackBerry Assistant reads the weather is priceless. I will continue to add a few sentences for him to read and ask BlackBerry Assistant.

Thank you BlackBerry for this wonderful tool: both for business and for our lives.

***

Kim Cooley’s Story

Friends,

We’re this close to a new era for BlackBerry, and we would love nothing more than for you to be right there with us. It doesn’t matter what smartphone is in your jacket or jean pocket today. What you mean to our community goes much deeper than that, as you helped define what made BlackBerry so great.

I met all of you through BlackBerry ages ago. And to this day, we still remain in touch. People like @DearFloyd, a Chicago DJ and Photographer whom I met on CrackBerry in its infancy and became friends with. Or the lovely @CoachApryll, who immediately worked her way into my heart and family after we conversed in the CrackBerry forums, BBM, even Twitter.

There’s also the incredibly-talented publicist, Alyse Feldman (@ontheflyPR.) Of the millions of tweets on Twitter, I spotted and replied to a random tweet of hers asking a question about Foursquare for BlackBerry. I even sent her a SocialScope invite – we all know how long ago that was! From Twitter to BBM, we’ve stayed in touch all these years.

Every person I mentioned above has embraced another mobile platform…and that’s perfectly OK. But every time we think about how we met, our hearts and conversation take us back to BlackBerry.

See, it’s not just about the brand; It’s about the relationships we formed. These don’t necessarily translate into a bullet list on a PowerPoint or a 30 second ad spot. But for us, they are rich in memories that are tied intricately to BlackBerry.

Just last a week, a few friends were asked why they couldn’t live without their BlackBerry smartphones. Their response: “the BlackBerry community.” You and I are the very core of what BlackBerry was, is, and will continue to be. We’re the reason BlackBerry didn’t give up and won’t give up.

Soon, our community will celebrate the launch of something extremely special. Yes, it’s unique, but it’s also special because it marks the beginning of a new era that builds upon a decade-and-a-half foundation we helped build.

Often, customers will ask a salesperson what device they have and if they like it. My answer is BlackBerry, and I love my phone. Sure, I’ve used all types of devices, but I need a device for productivity. BlackBerry is designed to make the daily multitasking I do achievable. After telling them about my experiences, the golden question becomes:

What Do You Use Your Phone For?

The majority of people say: text messaging, email, browsing, and the camera. Depending on the demographic, things such as music, the calendar, and making phone calls are also frequent answers.

Features that Matter

More people are using devices for composing text or messaging in one form or another. From text messaging and email to status updates and chatting on IM clients like BBM, I find there’s a lot of writing happening.

That Keyboard. . .

The first feature I demonstrate on BlackBerry 10 is the adaptive keyboard and features. I use the sentence, “Testing the keyboard on the new BlackBerry!” This is something that I can compose with only a few keystrokes and the rest of the sentence comes together by swiping up, or flicking the words as they appear on the keyboard. This shows the ease of one-handed typing and the ability of word prediction and spelling correction. These features are built-in to speed up communication and take into consideration ease of use for the customer.

Peek & Flow

The next thing I demonstrate is the BlackBerry Hub. I open the weather app and show how easily you can peek into the Hub and see if your incoming message is something that needs immediate attention or if you can continue watching for sunny skies. This highlights the ability to multi-task and flow from one thing to another without the need of a ‘home’ or ‘back’ button. A simple swipe up and you can see your inbox without leaving what you’re doing. Although, for those who just have to have the ‘back’ button, I’m told the BlackBerry Classic will include more traditional navigation features you’re used to.

Say Cheese!

One of the best features that I make sure to show off is the BlackBerry 10 camera. The Time Shift feature is unique and people love to try it. This is a big hit with parents of young children. There’s also built-in photo editing, which makes cropping, editing, and adding a filter or frame simple – no need for a third party application. With the upcoming Amazon partnership, that won’t be an issue either. Want to share? One tap of the ‘share’ button and it’s as easy as selecting the channel you want to post on, or person you’d like to send to.

What about the Browser?

One thing that people use that they want to make sure works well is the browser. In my experience, the BlackBerry 10 browser is fantastic. It’s fast, and doesn’t require additional downloads or plug-ins to work properly. I make sure to demonstrate the ‘Reader Mode’ option that eliminates all the unwanted advertising clutter, and gives you a simplified article view of a website. Multiple tabbed browsing just like on a desktop is another great benefit and I make sure to mention the fact that you can likely open every website available to you.

The list of features goes on and on, but those are the main things I make sure to show customers who are interested in upgrading to a new device. The estimated majority of the time, they leave with a new BlackBerry 10 and a smile on their face.

Different things are important to different people. It’s important to show the benefits of features that will actually be used regularly.

As a sales representative, there are often incentives to sell certain types of devices and this can lead to misguided customers who are misinformed and end up unsatisfied. I encourage you to take the initiative to do research on any product before you purchase it and remember that the job of a sales representative is to make the sale.

As a loyal BlackBerry customer for many years I enjoy being able to share the benefits of a great device with customers on a regular basis. I was actively encouraging BlackBerry sales to friends and family years before I worked in the industry and hope to continue to do so for years to come.

About Pat:

I’m an enthusiastic, easy-going guy with a passion for BlackBerry and a wide range of work experience.
I grew up outside Ottawa Ontario and now reside in Kingston. I work in sales, am a student in the health care field, and a proud father. I enjoy social media, spending time with my family, technology, and traveling. I’ve shown a dedication to BlackBerry for a number of years and am a proud BlackBerry fan on social media.

As you know, there are BlackBerry 10 smartphones coming in Q1 2013 – an all-touch model similar to the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha, and a BlackBerry 10 smartphone with our industry-defining BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard.

Today we announced the next phase of the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha program – the BlackBerry Dev Alpha C. It is a testing device for developers so that you can adjust, debug, and test your BlackBerry 10 applications to get ready for the launch of the BlackBerry 10 QWERTY device next year.

We’re only producing a limited number of these testing devices, and they will be reserved on a priority list for developers who have demonstrated that they are building apps for BlackBerry 10.

Distribution will be limited to developers who submit two or more applications; these developers will be given priority seeding for the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha C. These developers will be determined on the following point system: